Summary

The first two pages of the novel are not connected to the first chapter but they begin with a woman listening to what the trees are telling her. The trees essentially tell the woman that humans do not see the life that resides within the trees and that if human minds were like trees, there would be much the trees had to tell them.

The chapter concerning Nicholas Hoel first begins with his ancestor, Jorgen Hoel as he moves from the chestnut filled hills of Brooklyn to Iowa. Once there, he finds chestnut seed pods in his pockets and plants six of them. The third person narrator then goes on to tell how hard the years were for Jorgen and his family. The Civil War broke out but he was spared in the draft. Five of the chestnut trees perish by various means...